For Diane Windsor and her son, the anti-vaxx movement represents the difference between life and death. In June 2018, he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and needed immediate treatment. He and Diane had had a strained relationship because of his ongoing battle with addiction, but they found common ground as they battled for his survival.

He endured multiple rounds of Chemo, a round of Car-T Cell Therapy, and full-body radiation, which wiped out all the childhood vaccinations he once had and left him extraordinarily immunocompromised and vulnerable to diseases to which he had previously been immune. Diane had never entirely understood the anti-vaxx movement, but with her son’s health now under threat, her anger grew. He went into remission, and Diane wrote the YA novel Stuck, which tells the story of two best friends, Angie, who is immuno-compromised due to leukemia, and Cassidy, who is unvaccinated. 

Now two years later, Diane and her family are still fighting to keep her son healthy and mend their relationship. She hopes that writing Stuck and sharing her family's story helps others realize the truth about how crucial vaccines are to the immuno-compromised.

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Thank you for a great And Then Everything Changed podcast year! 

Just 8 hours after giving birth, Crystal Webster had to say goodbye to her newborn daughter, Madelyn Elizabeth who she had unknowingly passed a genetic disorder on to. The next five years of Crystal’s life were consumed by a debilitating sense of loss. Doctors told her that the only way that she would get pregnant again was through IVF treatments, but after three failed rounds, she realized she needed to find a way to start living again even if she would never realize her dream of a biological child.

When she was finally ready to move on with her life, putting all of the baby toys and blankets in a closet, out of sight, felt wrong to her: they were not meant to be hidden away like that. It was then that Crystal had the idea to create a community and launched Sharing Solace whose mission is to help grievers feel less alone through their healing process. The gifts from Sharing Solace are meant to be sent from one person to another when it no longer serves them. Each necklace and keychain comes with an inner token to be worn as long as one needs, and then passed on to someone else who needs support.

Madelyn is still an only child, and although Crystal and her husband may never start a family, Crystal now lives her life in a way that brings her joy and has written a book to help others recover from their traumas and losses.

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Confessions Of A Griever Book

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One morning David Richman woke up and realized how unhappy he truly was. While he loved his twin children, his great job in the financial industry, and his friends, he spent most of his time behind his desk, was out of shape and a smoker, and was in a very abusive relationship with an alcoholic partner.

He decided he wanted to live his life for himself and no longer please other people and he embarked on what he describes as a self-empowerment journey. He took his two young children, left his toxic marriage, set goals for himself, and nine months later had stopped smoking, started running, and completed his first Ironman Triathlon.

During this new stage of his life, he received a call from his sister June who told him that she had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Not long afterward, June lost her fight again cancer. Three days after she passed away, he ran for 24 hours straight at the American Cancer Society 24-hour Relay For Life and brought his 9-year old children along who each ran 31 miles that day.

To work through his trauma from his sister’s passing David decided to write his book Cycle Of Lives: 15 stories, 5000 miles, and A Journey Through The Emotional Chaos of Cancer about how people talk about and process cancer. He found that the loss around cancer seems to be a unique kind of grief and that people who believe their stories are nothing more than ordinary are actually the most extraordinary.

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By the time Sofia Husnain moved to America at age 11 she’d already been through more than most children her age. She was born in Pakistan and raised by a single mother in a male-dominant society, and because women were not treated as equals, Sofia’s mom had to work hard to keep them safe. They lived most of their life in extreme poverty and fear and Sofia and her sister had no male influence which impacted their relationships as they grew older.

Although life in the US was easier in many ways, Sofia hit her first rock-bottom at the age of 20 when she was diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease. Her second rock-bottom came just two years later when her father with whom she’d had limited contact told her that she was not his daughter. After years of searching for herself and being wrapped up in the wrong crowd, Sofia decided to alter her trajectory and opted for an arranged marriage to a man who represented the tradition and comfort she was missing.

In September 2020 she launched the platform Woman Disrupted to support women who have been shaken to the core by adversity and abuse but despite their challenges, have survived. In this episode Sofia shares her story and her vision for helping women who have been hurt change their lives.  

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And Then Everything Changed is taking this week off for the holiday. I hope you have a good holiday and here's what's coming up in December!

At just 24 weeks of gestation, Mike and Gaby Grinberg unexpectedly welcomed their 11-ounce baby, Lana Rose into the world. Gaby hadn’t encountered red flags throughout her early pregnancy but severe severe preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome struck halfway through and caused Lana to be born a micro-preemie –at the time the second smallest micro preemie ever born at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.

Lana spent 6 months in the hospital in the NICU unit and when Gaby and Mike were finally able to bring her home she needed an array of medical equipment and round-the-clock care to keep her healthy and improving. In addition to the stress of new parenthood and a child in need of special care, Gaby lost her job. She and Mike felt the strain in their marriage but knew they would stay together and resolved to do whatever it took to help their family thrive.

Together, in 2017, they started a fully digital marketing company, Proofpoint, so they could stay home to raise Lana who has grown stronger and healthier every day, and build a company with commitment to the values they hold dear. In this episode Gaby and Mike who have a new podcast Mixing Business With Pleasure share their experience of learning how to advocate for themselves and Lana and what life is like for their family five years later.

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The strongest person Samuel Burwell knew was his father who was his sole parent after Samuel’s mother passed away when he was just 6 years old. Raised by his father and a community of family and friends Samuel learned that hard work and taking care of one another were what help people survive and endure even what seem to be the most hopeless of times. 

Throughout his life and up until his death Samuel’s father strove to make a name for himself, create a way forward for his children, and leave a legacy for his family. Even in his last year of life when he was sick from diabetes and suffering from liver damage he refused to slow down and continued building a way forward for his children. When he died in July 2019 Samuel, now a father himself, grieved in isolation, without words for his loss. A year passed and then Samuel admitted his sadness was profound and that he needed to accept help. And when he did he was able to honor his father, continue his legacy, and show up as a parent himself.

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After hitting emotional rock bottoms several years ago sisters Dana and Sharon Sberro realized that they no longer wanted to give in to the societal pressure to be perfect they’d felt for years. Facing a darkness they had not known before, they decided to dig deeper and embrace their flaws instead of trying to cover them up. And when they did they discovered their mission. 

Together, they formed We Are Suzelle a platform focused on self-love and self-discovery and dedicated to sharing vulnerable content that they believe the world needs right now. In this episode, Dana and Sharon join Ronit from The Netherlands and Israel to talk about their lowest point, how they reclaimed themselves, the truth about social media, and what everyone should know before entering significant relationships.

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This week will be And Then Everything Changed's podcast anniversary! What's in store for episode 50, thank yous, where to find the podcast on social media, and info on reaching out about your story!